From paediatric to adult endocrinology care: the challenge of the transition period.

Interest in the transition period when young people with chronic illness move from a paediatric service to an adult service has been driven by the increasing numbers of young patients making such a move. This brief article offers suggestions for successful transition programmes based on the recent personal experience of the authors, with a review of the available literature. We discuss how physicians need to adopt a flexible approach to the timing of the transfer, how an education programme is needed before the transition to allow patients to manage their illness independently, and how a co-ordinated approach between the paediatric and adult teams is of the utmost importance. The successful approach to transition will not only benefit the patient but, by linking the paediatric and adult services, may aid research into the long-term modalities for hormonal substitution, including thyroid, steroid and growth hormone deficiencies.